End Notes

ENDNOTES

  1. (#1) The architectural term for this kind of deep bell-shaped dungeon, with a manhole at the top as the only exit, is “oubliette,” from the Norman French, “to forget.” [Ed.]
  2. (#2) But this pattern may shortly be stood on it’s head. The article goes on to describe the artwork of the Sarmatians, and links them with the Kushanas of Bactria (Afghanistan) and the Sakas of North India. These are powerful names. See #63, Corey and Mahan. Also see the forthcoming Rock Art from Burrows’ Cave (Scherz) [Ed.]
  3. (#2) This book is primarily a narrative of people’s actions, all subject to varying inter-pretations. Where possible, the major actors speak in their own voices, often for many pages. A contributor’s narrative is indicated by initials at it’s beginning; interruptions are likewise noted. [Ed.]
  1. (#3) See, for instance: Superior Heartland, by C. Fred Rydholm (1989; Marquette MI), pp. 1476-1575; Michigan Prehistoric Mysteries, vols. I & II, by Betty Sodders (Avery Pub. 1990-91; Au Train MI); and the annotated bibliography Pre-Columbian Contact with the Americas Across the Oceans, by John L. Sorenson & Martin H. Raish (Research Press, 1990; Provo UT), which contains literally thousands of entries, and yet is not complete, for I know of several titles which are not listed. [FR]
  2. (#8) The “elephant tablet” controversy will recur throughout this narrative. For a summary of it, see #37 “The Elephant Brouhaha.” [Ed.]
  3. (#10) The story Col. Burrows refers to has been recounted in a book called Trapped, by Robert K. Murray (historian) and Roger W. Brucker (caver). (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1979) It is the story of the struggle to rescue Floyd Collins from a Kentucky cave in 1925, an ordeal which became one of the most controversial news events in modern times. [FR]
  4. (#11) Later Russell removed the flat pivot stone altogether, and rolled a large round stone in to block the hole. At this writing the stone plug is there yet, and the place has not been entered; it is definitely an entrance to a chamber of some kind. [FR]
  5. (#14) Burrows says he’s found at least 20-30 of these lamps, spaced about 25 feet apart, on both walls of the cave. After a while, he lost interest in looking for them, but assumes there are many more. [Ed.]
  6. (#26) A “section” is a surveying term for an area of land, one mile square.
  7. (#29) Uraeus, pl. uraei (LGK ouraios, a snake): a representation of the sacred asp (Naje haje) on the headdress of ancient Egyptian rulers, serving as a symbol of sovereignty. (Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary.) [Ed.]
  8. (#30) Ushabti: ancient Egyptian: a statuette of a servant or subject, buried with the mummy of a personage.
  9. (#34) Gloria Farley’s report on Ward was the result of the terrible impression he made on everyone attending the 1984 ISAC conference. At this time he had only one choice-found stones to offer in evidence for his theories. (He’d not yet acquired the “Monroe City” sites’ stones.) But even later, when he had Burrows’ Cave artifacts to display, no one believed he was an epigrapher, or, by extension, that anything he was associated with could possibly be anything but fantasy. [Ed.]
  10. (#48) This was subsequent to the Early Sites meeting of Oct. 86; see VH’s account in 38 “Jim Whittall approached.” [Ed.]
  11. (#49) See #52 “Another Hair-Raiser.” [Ed.]
  12. (#51) Henriette Mertz, The Mystic Symbol (Globe Books, P.O. Box 2025, Gaithersberg MD 20879,= 1986). Ms. Mertz died in 1985, after a lifetime of productive work as a distinguished patent attorney, and as a scholar of pre-Columbian contact with the Americas. Her books include: Pale Ink: Two Ancient Records of Chinese Exploration in America; The Nephtali: One Lost Tribe; The Wine Dark Sea: Homer’s Heroic Epic of the North Atlantic; and Atlantis: Dwelling Place of the Gods. [FR]
  13. (#51) Over half a dozen archaeologists and linguists have examined the collection. They have been definite in their support of the artifacts’ authenticity. However, these men, and one woman, are not being quoted as formal supporters. Their examinations were made without benefit of labs, and they have no interest in being pestered by enthusiasts or embroiled in controversy irrelevant to their own work. [RB]
  14. (#53) This was a private surveying expedition with James Scherz, professor of surveying at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. See #65 “My involvement with Burrows’ Cave.” [Ed.]
  15. (#54) At this point Ward was basing his theories on choice-found stones; he had not yet acquired the dubious stones from the Monroe City site, much less any of the Burrows’ Cave artifacts. The audience at this 1984 meeting formed an ineradicable impression of a rambling fanaticist (and they passed this conclusion on to others); thus, it was thought, anything he was associated with must perforce be fraudulent or deluded. [Ed.]
  16. (#54) In a letter from Evan Hanson of Beryl, Utah, dated Jan. 25, 1991, he states, concerning a stone from Burrows’ Cave: “The first word in the title line is twice the size of the other words, and this is RAZ. Strong’s Concordance 7328 lists this as “a Mystery to hide.” A few other words have identifiable roots, so I have a rough idea of their meaning, which appears to be a secret message to followers of a consecrated leader. This RAZ is the only word that’s certain, but if I’m right about this being a secret message, then it’s understandable why it can’t be read by modern translators. It probably was in code, known only to that group.” [FR] For more on Raz, see the two illustrations on pp. 182f in America B.C. [Ed.]
  17. (#56) The looting of shipwrecks goes on apace today for the same reason; and because it is done illegally it has created a network of organized piracy. This is a dangerous business that would be eliminated with a change of laws. [FR]
  18. (#56) This letter to Dr. Fell was obviously a mistake in judgement on the part of Dr. Cook and Russ Burrows. Quite apart from it’s failure as a ploy, both men should have staunchly maintained the truth as they knew it, as they did at all other times. This book is full of examples of occasional poor judgement by almost every actor. The authors stress that they do not intend the reader to condemn any person at all; rather, they want this book to be a true record of behavior in the face of a disturbing discovery, so that we can all learn from this experience, and not repeat mistakes.
    Secondly, it now appears (February 1992) that Ward may have included in the dis- plays of artifacts in his Vincennes house some stones that he himself inscribed. Since his death, several people have approached Burrows with inscribed stones sold to them by Ward, stones with patterns of lettering which Burrows did not recognize, and which he knows he never found in the cave. Yet the stones themselves seem to be like ones he found bearing no inscriptions. He concludes that Ward was not above taking blank cave stones, concocting his own decorated artifacts, and selling them. For more on n Ward’s character, see #68 “The Deaths of Jack Ward and Norman Cullen.” [RB, Ed.]
  19. (#63) Ethel Stewart’s book, published in 1991, is available from Superior Heartland,
    Inc., 221 Lakewood Lane, Marquette MI 49855; or from ISAC Press, P.O. Box 1658,
    Columbus GA 31902. [FR]
  20. (#63) At present, the best evidence indicates three broad migrations:
    1) The most recent is that of the Innuit (the Eskimo), who moved into the American Arctic in near-historic times; at least, the Greenland Eskimo were moving down into Greenland at the time the Norse settlements there were dying out.
    2) Prior to this is the migration of the Athapascan-speakers, the subject of Stewart’s book. These include many tribes of Western Canada, and the Navaho and Apache of the Southwest. It certainly seems that the Navaho and Apache entered their present territory about AD 1000, and may have contributed to the decline of the Cliff-dweller culture there. Dates for the arrival of the Canadian branch are less certain, but are thought to be almost as recent.
    3) Then there are all the other Indians, a vast number of tribes and languages. They’re all lumped into the “first migration.” [Ed.]
  21. (#64) This present book will also fascinate students of the pathology of science, and will probably provide material for several doctoral dissertations in this field. [Ed.]
  22. (#65) In the forthcoming Rock Art from Burrows’ Cave, by James P. Scherz and Russell Burrows.
  23. (#67) Of course Jim Scherz, who took the slides in question, was incensed by this statement. [FR]
  24. (#67) Four words omitted, to keep the hyenas lulled; also two in the penultimate paragraph. For the full text, see the Louisiana Mound Society Newsletter, #42 (Oct. 1, 1991) [Ed.]
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